Unless you’re from the Bronx, many people don’t realize that our borough is home to a very large and vibrant Mexican community particularly in the Melrose and Mott Haven neighborhoods.
You have Dominican bodegas right beside Mexican bodegas as well as Mexican restaurants sharing the block with Puerto Rican or Dominican ones.
Here we have a story from the Daily News of an undocumented Bronx activist who risked it all to give a voice to the millions without one.
Welcome2TheBronx is happy to say that we are very proud of him and this heroic act not just for his Mexican community but all the other undocumented who are simply trying to achieve the Dream.
Read the entire story below and click on the link for more related stories from the Daily News.
Undocumented Bronx activist who went to Mexico to protest U.S. deportation policy is headed home
by Erica Pearson, m.nydailynews.com
August 8th 2013 2:49 PM
Marco Saavedra was allowed back into the U.S. after he went to Mexico to protest deportation policy.
An undocumented Bronx activist who crossed the border into Mexico to stage a controversial protest — and then asked the feds to let him back in — is soon heading home.
The feds freed Marco Saavedra, 23, and the other eight immigrant members of the “Dream 9” from an Arizona detention center on Wednesday night after they were cleared to go before a judge to argue for asylum.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive for what we hoped to achieve,” Saavedra said Thursday.
RELATED: ‘DREAM 9’ PROTESTERS WIN RIGHT TO BID FOR ASYLUM
He said he hopes his unorthodox protest of U.S. deportation policy will lead a greater number of Mexican nationals to present themselves at the border and ask for asylum.
“More humane pathways have to exist. It’s unfortunate that people can’t see the urgency of the moment,” he said.
Saavedra, a Kenyon College graduate who came to the U.S. when he was three, and the other eight activists have not been granted permission to stay, but were released until future court dates. They could end up being sent back to Mexico if a judge denies their asylum bids.
RELATED: MEXICAN-BORN IMMIGRATION ACTIVIST FROM BRONX DETAINED IN ARIZONA
Saavedra plans to fly home later this week after trying to help free some of the fellow detainees he and other “Dream 9” members met during their weeks in immigration detention.
His mom, Natalia Mendez, 43, who became a big supporter despite her initial fears about his protest plan, is getting ready to celebrate his return.
“I was able to talk with him – he was out, he was free! He was able to achieve staying in the U.S.,” said the Mott Haven restaurant owner.
RELATED: ALBOR RUIZ: PRESIDENT OBAMA SHOULD ACT TO BRING DREAM 9 HOME
“I’m feeling really emotional. We’re going to do a party, we’re going to have free tacos in honor of him. ”
The protest began last month, when Saavedra and two other undocumented members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance flew to Mexico.
They then walked to the border at Nogales on July 22 along with six other young immigrants who were living in Mexico after being deported or returning on their own after years in the U.S.
The group asked to be let in for humanitarian reasons. Officials turned down that request but later cleared them to bid for asylum.
epearson@nydailynews.com
